Employment Packet - Arizona State University



Employment Packet

Chapter 15 Starting Your Career

Overview:

Create a packet that responds directly to a job advertisement in your field. The packet must include 4 parts: 1) the actual job ad, 2) a company profile, 3) a resume, 4) a cover letter.

Goals and Skills:

This assignment asks you to begin learning about your field, including an understanding of what types of work experience and coursework will be required of new hires. You will also set goals and make a plan for finding a career position, and learn to design and prepare a resume and cover letter. In order to succeed at this assignment, you must first locate a job ad by using online databases. You must carefully choose a job ad that is legitimate and appropriate. Pay careful attention to the reputation of the company advertising the job. Your letter and resume must address the written job ad directly. Use language and details from the job ad to tailor your resume and cover letter to this particular job. This job ad will be critical to your success in the course, because your subsequent major projects will be written as if you have gotten this job.

Structure:

Your single Microsoft Word Document will include 4 consecutive pages corresponding with each of the 4 parts of the packet in the following order:

Job Ad:

Think about your career goals realistically, considering who you want to work for, where you want to live, and what career path you would like to take. Using job-seeking tools such as job search engines, personal networking, a college placement office, or classified ads, find an advertisement for a job that you would apply for upon graduation. This should be an entry-level job suitable for a new graduate in your field. The ad must be for an existing company. Your grade will be based on how well the ad fits your qualifications, so make sure that the ad is appropriate for your level of experience. Another important aspect of your grade will be how well you evaluate the job ad itself. Do you recognize the company? Does the job offer clear benefits? Is the job description clear? Is the position desirable? You must include the job ad in your packet. Please cut and paste the job ad into your document, since job links come and go.

Profile:

In order to write an effective resume and cover letter you must anticipate the needs of the company and the job and understand the corporate climate. To be better prepared to target your application materials to the specific ad you have chose it is best to do thorough research on the company so you can prove that your skills and experience match the corporate climate of the company. Also, you would certainly like to know if a company is about to go through a merger, if their stock prices have recently crashed, or if the CEO is under investigation for insider trading. Gather this information through research in magazines and newspapers, interviews, or email, listing the sources you consulted in MLA Format with in-text citations and a Works Cited. This section will include 500 single spaced words profiling the company. Include information about their products or services, their hiring policies, their management, whether they use a team-based environment, their company history, their stock history, trends in the company market, and any major developments recently in the news, etc. The purpose of this profile is two-fold. First, you would not want to work for a company unless you know a lot about them. Second, you need information about the company so you can tailor your resume and cover letter to that company and that job.

Resume: 

Write a one page resume that lists experience and education applicable to this job.  Make sure the resume highlights skills and experience that would apply to this particular job. Be very specific with your skills and tasks you have performed. Use verb-first phrases as listed on pages 416-417 of our book.

Cover Letter: 

Write the letter that you would send with your resume applying for the job and requesting an interview. The letter must have at least 4 well developed paragraphs. Please see the sample on page 427 in our book. The letter should elaborate on information about items listed in your resume, with narrated examples of school projects and work experience. Instead of making general statements such as, "I am a good listener," narrate through concrete examples of your skills, such as, “I completed a project in my COM 245 class that allowed me to collaborate with 7 other students.”

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